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OKWU rises above foe

Bench power helped energize the Oklahoma Wesleyan University men’s basketball team to one of the program’s biggest victories during second-year head coach Jason Beschta’s tenure.

Zach Bowie and Rodrick Ogletree came off the bench to combine for 24 points during the Eagles’ 95-90 victory against visiting Ottawa (Kan.) College.

OKWU’s 95-point explosion was the second highest single-game in the Beschta era — the Eagles last year thumped Central Baptist (Ark.), 105-73 — and only the third time in the past 37 games the Eagles have surpassed 90 points.

And, OKWU needed almost every single point Tuesday night to turn back the relentless Ottawa Braves.

With a little more than five minutes remaining, the Eagles bolted to a 10-point lead, 82-72, after Devin Harris (18 points, six assists) hit a driving layup off a secondary transition push.

But, the Braves answered with a 12-4 run, during a three-minute stretch, to pull within two points, 86-84, with 2:14 showing on the clock.

As they had done all game, the Eagles found a spark in the clutch.

On OKWU’s next possession, Tyler Woods (nine points, seven assists) buried a long deuce — behind a screen set by Phillip Jahn — to bump the Eagles back to a two-possession lead, 88-84.

Once again, Ottawa answered on the other end and called for a timeout, with 1:43 remaining.

When play resumed, the Eagles put the ball in the hands of Harris. He drove toward the short left wing and put up a hook shot over some tall Ottawa timber to lift the Eagles to a 90-86 lead.

The doggedly-determined Braves made it a two-point game again, 90-88, on a pair of free throws.

OKWU brought the ball to the business end and shopped for a good shot.

The attempt was off target, but Woods was there to collect the backside offensive rebound. As he was shoved backward — resulting in a foul — Woods threw up a prayer from the right baseline.

The prayer was answered.

Somehow, his off-balance, awkward fling nestled through the cords, prompting the OKWU students to spring to their feet as if a horde of scorpions had just bitten their bottoms.

After the cheering subsided, Woods stepped to the line and calmly completed the three-point play to bolster OKWU to a five-point bulge, 93-88.

That play proved to be a back-breaker for the Braves.

They managed just one more field goal — and they scored that with only one second left, when the outcome was already in the books.

“We found a way to score,” Beschta said about his team’s shooting woes in the second half. “Our effort on the offensive glass was huge. We outrebounded them on the offensive boards, 13-4. We missed more shots than them, but we got them back.”

In fact, Beschta shook his head a bit in awe at what his team accomplished.

“It isn’t often you beat a team that shoots 58 percent from the field (28-of-48) and hits 59 percent of its three-pointers (13-of-22),” he noted.

For its part, OKWU shot a solid 52 percent (35-of-68) from the field, but sputtered from behind the three-point line (7-of-26, .269).

Somehow, the Eagles foraged for a chest-thumping triumph.

Bench scoring — and a balanced scoring sheet — proved to be two crucial areas.

Seven Eagles scored eight-or-more-points, led by Harris and Brian James with 18 and 17, respectively.

Bowie finished with 14, followed by Ogletree with 10.

Steven Cooks and Woods added nine points apiece.

The Eagle bench delivered 36 points — which proved to be critical, offsetting the 28 points delivered by Ottawa reserves.

OKWU also outrebounded the Braves, 28-to-22, with James falling just one board short of a double-double.

Zac Rogers, who turned in an unheralded but vital effort, added seven boards to go with four points and an assist.

Beschta knew before the game he needed a full-team effort, and that the Eagles would have to stretch the court in order to offset Ottawa’s strength in the post.

A blistering start by OKWU set the pace.

After Ottawa scored first on Corey Smith’s layup, the Eagles bolted to a bolted to a 13-0 run.

Harris opened OKWU’s scoring with a three-pointer, then stole the ball back and zipped a pass to Phillip Jahn for a quick bucket to stretch OKWU’s lead to 5-2.

Ottawa turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions — including a steal by James — to help fuel the Eagles’ sizzling start.

Harris’ second trey — off an assist by Woods — made it an 8-2 ballgame.

James then pilfered the ball and fed Harris for a deuce to widen the gap to 10-2.

The Eagles soon added another trey to bump their lead to 11 points, 13-2, with 17:15 left in the first half.

Ottawa called an immediate timeout.

The Braves begin to chip away at the lead — but they couldn’t dent the Eagles’ confidence.

On a crucial Eagles’ possession, after Ottawa had gone on a 6-2 run, Rogers fired a bullet pass between defenders to Ogletree, who hit the layup to increase the Eagles’ lead back to nine, 17-8.

OKWU soon re-established a 10-point lead, 19-9, with 12:58 left in the first half, on a pair of free throws by Cooks.

However, Ottawa proved to be a stubborn foe.

The Braves stormed back to grab the lead, 41-40, with about four minutes remaining in the first half.

OKWU snapped back with a 10-2 run, including a three-pointer by Bowie and layup by James. Harris set up the latter bucket by penetrating to the hole and handing the ball to James, who was cutting in from the left block.

As the halftime buzzer blew, OKWU owned a five-point lead, 53-48.

Both teams seemed to lose steam in the second half and combined for 22 turnovers — an average of more than one per minute.

But, OKWU built a 12-point lead, 67-55, and never wilted in the face of Ottawa’s fiery desire.

OKWU made a mighty statement with less than seven minutes left when Jahn hammered an over-the-front-rim, two-handed slam dunk to stretch the OKWU lead to 11 points, 76-65.

Ottawa would make a last-ditch rally, but the Eagles would hang tough to improve to 3-0 at home.

Next up, the Eagles will be home Friday against Rhema Bible and Saturday against Mid-American Christian.